Engine Light Woes

[kev187]

So my Tiger has this issue of the engine light coming on, going off, coming on, going off.  Been doing it since Last winter.



The bike is now 1 year old with 8800 mile on it.  I have taken to the dealer & they said they cannot do anything with the engine light not one, but its so inconsistant.



So last night while taking off from a light, the power dropped, lights dimmed, gauges dropped down, the bike sputtered, then went back to full power & the engine light is once again on?



Any idea's?



I have decided to not ride it till I can get it back on the shop with the light still on hopefull.  Last year about this time the bike had a head gasket metldown at 1000 miles in.  But I still love her anyway ;-)



Thanks everyoen

[greg]

That is the problem with a Tiger, they are not as reliable as one might wish. I recently had a an overheating problem which would have been easy enough to fix had the bastard not decided to develop another completely seperate fault (Clutch cable contact or something) which completely killed everything, all the idiot lights came on and it would not start, or even make the slightest effort to, so was unable to bleed out the airlock which was the original problem. Had to stuff the bike in a van, run it to the dealer and get them to diagnose and sort it. £75 later it was all ok but I was so pissed off about this, a problem which could have left me stranded at the side of the road, I decided to stick it on ebay. Took the pics after a good clean up, then made the mistake of going for a ride, after which I decided I just couldn't sell it, it just felt so right!

It's a problem, what do you replace one with? Looks like I'm stuck with it forever.

[NortonCharlie]

Check and make sure your batery terminals are tight.  I'm not sure what is causing the intermittent check engine light.  I assume your dealer hooked it up to the gameboy to check for any recorded faults?

[kev187]

Battery Terminals are indeed tight.  I am riding to the dealer Wednesday after work & hopefull that the engine light stays on so they can plug it in.   Its my daily driver & I am quite miserable resorting the cage for my daily commute.

[kev187]

Well the Tiger has been in the shop for over week, they thought it was a bad temp sensor (error code induced) they repaired the temp sensor to find that stator is no longer charging the battery at high rpms?  So now I am waiting for them to get a stator in.



The tiger is on year old 9000 miles



*blown head gasket at 1000 miles (after a very anal proper break in)

*Temp sensor gone bad

*Stator has now gone bad



I have put welll over 20K miles on two honda's with no issues, I Love my tiger but man when the warranty is up, I am going to have to do some soul searching on this one.

[Jim S]

To be honest, I've not heard a lot of problems from the Tigers, I've an 04 with 17,000 miles now. Apart from the petrol guage annoying me no other issues. I'll try a new fuel sender this winter. Hopefully problem solved.



I agree in regards to Honda. This is the main motivation to buy them. Build quality is second to none. The engines are designed to be bomb proof. Electrics are durable, apart from those damned regulator rectifiers!



In 12 yrs of Honda ownership I had very little problems, one R/R on my VFR but otherwise never let down. Africa twins were no problem, over 35,000 miles on mine, the Varadero, no issues either. If they make a replacement for the Africa twin this year coming I will be tempted to return to Honda! We'll see!

[kev187]

I wish honda would bring the Varadera state side, that would be a great tiger alternative.  I am actually hoping there is some truth to this 800cc BMW GS?  A light weight 85HP hopefully affordable dual sport.... & wicked reliable.  I love the hell out of my Tiger, but wish she would stay out of the shop :(

[Guest]

I wish honda would bring the Varadera state side, that would be a great tiger alternative.  

Veradero is 20kgs HEAVIER than the Tiger and VERY thirsty.

I am actually hoping there is some truth to this 800cc BMW GS?  A light weight 85HP hopefully affordable dual sport.... & wicked reliable.  

An 800cc GS should, in theory, be a great bike like the original R80GS was/is. BUT BMW reliability isn't what it used to be. They've had rear wheels coming off, electrical systems needing upgrades after sale, all sorts of components needing replacements due to corrosion etc. BMW are living on the deserved reputation gained durring the 60's, 70's & early 80's. They're not that good any more.